Whales are very large aquatic mammals. Unlike most fish that breathe using gills, they breathe air through blowhole into their lungs. Whales have sleek, streamlined bodies that move easily through the water. They are the only mammals, other than manatees, that live their entire lives in the water, and the only mammals that have adapted to life in the open oceans.
"The causes of dolphin and whale stranding can often be difficult to determine."(Mann) “When weakened by disease, starvation or injury, whales succumb to an instinctual fear of drowning. Seized with panic, they swim to shallower and shallower water to keep breathing, and often wind up stranded on a beach, where the sun, sand and wind quickly end their lives.” (Henheffer). Another phenomena, called mass beachings, involve a group of whales or dolphins getting stuck on shore. Scientists have not quite figured out mass beachings but think it could have something to do with sonar or a disease. There are many causes as to why whales beach themselves. 1. “Sonar-“Sonar somehow causes hemorrhaging, producing nitrogen bubbles in the liver and other organs, and causes other pathologies that you tend to see in human and land animals that are suffering from severe decompression sickness," says Jasney. But scientists still know very little about marine mammals' hearing, and much more research is needed to understand the connection between ocean noise and hearing loss.” (Henheffer) 2. Disruption in magnetic feild-“A theory advanced by Geologist Jim Berkland, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, attributes the strandings to radical changes in the Earth's magnetic field just prior to earthquakes and in the general area of earthquakes, Berkland says when this occurs, it interferes with sea mammals.”3. Underse 3. Earthquakes-“When the basaltic bottom ruptures in the vertical plane, the dancing seafloor acts like a gigantic piston, pushing and pulling against the water column, generating extreme changes in ambient water pressure that travel toward the surface at 1,500 meters per second. Changes in pressure too excessive to be counterbalanced by the pressure regulating anatomy of the whales will cause sinus barotrauma and middle-ear barotrauma in the entire pod. Since intact and functioning air sinuses are mandatory for the workings of biosonar, a pressure-related injury in and around the sinus membranes results in the abrupt loss of acoustic navigation.” This can lead the whales to shore. 4. Natural reasons such as bad weather, old age or getting sick.
There are many reasons as to why a whale would beach itself, getting a whale back into the ocean is very difficult and almost impossible because of how large they are, however the whale can become unsafe because of the parasites that feed on it and needs to be disposed of some way or another.
Henheffer, T. (2010). When the sea goes silent. Maclean's, 123(50), 57.
Mann, D., Hill-Cook, M., Manire, C., Greenhow, D., Montie, E., Powell, J., & ... Hoetjes, P. (2010). Hearing Loss in Stranded Odontocete Dolphins and Whales. Plos ONE, 5(11), 1-5. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013824
"The causes of dolphin and whale stranding can often be difficult to determine."(Mann)
“When weakened by disease, starvation or injury, whales succumb to an instinctual fear of drowning. Seized with panic, they swim to shallower and shallower water to keep breathing, and often wind up stranded on a beach, where the sun, sand and wind quickly end their lives.” (Henheffer). Another phenomena, called mass beachings, involve a group of whales or dolphins getting stuck on shore. Scientists have not quite figured out mass beachings but think it could have something to do with sonar or a disease. There are many causes as to why whales beach themselves.
1. “Sonar-“Sonar somehow causes hemorrhaging, producing nitrogen bubbles in the liver and other organs, and causes other pathologies that you tend to see in human and land animals that are suffering from severe decompression sickness," says Jasney. But scientists still know very little about marine mammals' hearing, and much more research is needed to understand the connection between ocean noise and hearing loss.” (Henheffer)
2. Disruption in magnetic feild-“A theory advanced by Geologist Jim Berkland, formerly with the U.S. Geological Survey, attributes the strandings to radical changes in the Earth's magnetic field just prior to earthquakes and in the general area of earthquakes, Berkland says when this occurs, it interferes with sea mammals.”3. Underse
3. Earthquakes-“When the basaltic bottom ruptures in the vertical plane, the dancing seafloor acts like a gigantic piston, pushing and pulling against the water column, generating extreme changes in ambient water pressure that travel toward the surface at 1,500 meters per second. Changes in pressure too excessive to be counterbalanced by the pressure regulating anatomy of the whales will cause sinus barotrauma and middle-ear barotrauma in the entire pod. Since intact and functioning air sinuses are mandatory for the workings of biosonar, a pressure-related injury in and around the sinus membranes results in the abrupt loss of acoustic navigation.” This can lead the whales to shore.
4. Natural reasons such as bad weather, old age or getting sick.
There are many reasons as to why a whale would beach itself, getting a whale back into the ocean is very difficult and almost impossible because of how large they are, however the whale can become unsafe because of the parasites that feed on it and needs to be disposed of some way or another.
Henheffer, T. (2010). When the sea goes silent. Maclean's, 123(50), 57.
Mann, D., Hill-Cook, M., Manire, C., Greenhow, D., Montie, E., Powell, J., & ... Hoetjes, P. (2010). Hearing Loss in Stranded Odontocete Dolphins and Whales. Plos ONE, 5(11), 1-5. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013824
Nicole Reeves